Lung cancer patients smoke themselves to sleep.

• Position: Insomnia - Brief article

What many of us take for granted--a good nights sleep--may be unattainable for those with lung cancer These individuals comprise a subgroup of cancer patients who are most vulnerable to sleep disturbances. Why cant lung cancer patients fall asleep or, once asleep, stay asleep? When interviewed, the patients say that it is not pain or difficulty breathing that keeps them awake: it is worry--worry about what will happen to their families without them and worry that they may die in their sleep.

The interviews were part of a study published in the Journal of Addictions on the role anxiety plays in sleeplessness among lung cancer patients and the subsequent use of tobacco and alcohol to relax. "Because smoking and alcohol abuse increase morbidity and mortality for lung cancer patients who undergo treatment, we wanted to know how much the patients we studied were smoking and drinking, and whether these variables were related to anxiety and sleep...